The subtitle Song sonata refers to three songs that underlie the three
movements of the composition: a medieval chant, a chorale and a folk song.

The first movement of the sonata reworks the chant Caritas abundat in
omnia by Hildegard von Bingen, interspersing choral motifs with freer
passages, highly virtuoso with serene elements and outbursts of ecstasy with
moments of contemplation. The opening section builds up to a double polyphonic
climax which is introduced by a chaconne whose variations range across a wide
technical and emotional spectrum. This is followed by a fugue which takes up
and transforms the theme of the chaconne.

The chorale Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern forms the basis of
the second movement. This contemplative and highly emotional chant represents an
omnipresent cantus firmus.

The wild introduction to the final movement leads into an extensive cycle of
free variations on the folk song Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit.
The whole sonata is a tightly woven pattern of motifs which this last movement
draws together and combines to create new relationships between the musical
elements. Finally, the movement ends with a short evocation of the theme from
Hildegard von Bingen developing out of the folk melody

A note about the chants

Hildegard as a composer transformed the template of Gregorian chants into a very
distinctive choral style. The melodies are rich in onomatopoeia, highly virtuoso
and cover an unusually wide gamut.

The chorale Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (melody and text by
Philipp Nicolai) is one of the most beautiful and famous German hymns written in
the tradition of compositions by Thomas Münzer (1489–1525) and Martin Luther
(1483–1546). Bach’s cantata bearing the same name is number 1 in the
non-chronological sequence of his work.

Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit, composed by Anton Wilhelm von
Zuccalmaglio (1803–1869), was originally entitled Abendlied
(“Evening Song”). This simple and movingly melancholic melody is among the most
well-known folk songs.

Hildegard von Bingen as a composer

Hildegard von Bingen, 1098–1179, was a religious scholar and saint, who is
widely considered to be one of the most famous and influential women of the
Middle Ages. Her work, which includes treatises on natural medecine, cosmology,
biology, ethics and theology, has experienced a renaissance in the course of the
last decades. Her Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum, from
which the antiphonCaritas abundat is taken, is a collection of
77 liturgical chants. She also composed a mystery play, Ordo
virtutum, a semi-dramatic chanted dialogue, that can arguably be seen as
a blueprint for later oratoria and opera.